The first account of the secret police in Eastern Europe and after 1989, this book uses a wide range of sources, including archives, to identify what has and has not changed since the end of communism. After explaining the structure and workings of two of the area's most feared services, Czechoslovakia's StB and Romania's Securitate, the authors details the creation of new security intelligence institutions, the development of contacts with the West, and forms of democratic control.

`This is an engagingly written and extremely topical book that sheds new light on the important relationship between political transition and the reform of security services. The authors explore the concept of security intelligence and place the discussion of post-Communist Europe within the wider context of transitions from authoritarian rule and security-sector reform. The substantive chapters on Czech, Slovak and Romanian security services are extremely well researched and shed new light on the intricate details of security reform; one cannot find this detailed information elsewhere in English-language sources. This is an important and informative book.' - Charles King, Ion Ratui Chair of Romanian Studies, Georgetown University